Facebook Faulted for Storing Data on Nonmembers

A German data-protection official has launched legal proceedings against Facebook Inc. over the way it handles data about non-users of the social-networking service without their express permission.

Johannes Caspar, head of the data-protection agency for the German city-state of Hamburg, said he found fault with Facebook's invitation system, which allows users to import contacts from their address books to see if those people are...